


Study Break

by glitterburn (orphan_account)



Category: Demon Diary
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-22
Updated: 2009-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-05 00:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/glitterburn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raenef is bored with his studies despite the distractions of his tutor--but he and Eclipse don't seem to be on the same page.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Study Break

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Beth_Ashke](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Ashke/gifts).



A pile of books teetered on the balustrade overlooking the castle garden. Demon Lord Raenef V curled his legs to his chest and stared at the books, willing them to go tumbling down into the dirt. He knew he could use his magic to give them a little shove—it wouldn't even take half a mezraez of power, and he'd accumulated much more than that just sitting here sunning himself—but somehow it seemed like more fun to let fate decide.

He inched one foot along the wide stone balustrade, wondering if the careful movement would be enough to unbalance the dusty old tomes. Boring legal texts, most of them, with some equally turgid histories thrown in for good measure. They all deserved to land in the mulch of the rose garden, where worms and bugs could feast on the thick pages with their complicated phrases and tedious rhetoric.

When the pile still refused to fall, Raenef lifted a hand, determined to give the books a gentle nudge in the right direction.

"That would be a poor use of your powers, Master Raenef," said a smoky voice behind him, and Raenef sat up straight with a yelp. His action caused the books to wobble, and then to sway, and finally they tipped sidelong and fell into the garden with a flutter and a thump.

"Eclipse!" Raenef swung around and gave him a big beaming smile. "I was just... studying. Yes. I was studying."

Eclipse peered over the balustrade, the movement causing the long, silken coils of his black hair to obscure his expression. "Perhaps you were calculating the velocity of fifteen books launched at a rose bush?"

Raenef nodded. "It could be useful to know."

"If you were ever in the position of the rose bush, yes." Eclipse turned to face him, a tiny frown drawing his brows together. "My lord, I'm sorry you find your studies tiresome..."

"Boring," Raenef corrected him. "Not just tiresome, but deadly boring."

"You need to know the laws regulating demon behaviour." Eclipse folded his arms across his chest, inadvertently drawing Raenef's attention to the long, muscled lines of his body beneath the layers of midnight-sheened demon-silk.

"Surely I don't need to know the legal code of 186 of common time," Raenef grouched, tearing his gaze away from the pale expanse of Eclipse's chest revealed by the overlap of his robes. "I mean, who cares about some stupid border dispute from four thousand-odd years ago? Everyone who was involved in it is dead!"

"Not quite everyone." Eclipse clicked his fingers and summoned the books, which jumped through the air, scattering leaves, rose petals, and a worm, before they landed, shuffled about, and formed a neat pile at Eclipse's feet. "Several surviving demon lords remember the legal code of 186 because they formulated it."

Raenef rolled his eyes. "It's still boring."

"I agree, but nevertheless you must study it." Eclipse settled himself on the balustrade and smiled at Raenef. It was the kind of smile so rare and precious that Raenef temporarily forgot his own name.

Eclipse had always had that effect on him, but lately it seemed to be getting worse. The feeling it evoked had changed, too. When Raenef had been a fifteen-year-old fledgling demon lord, Eclipse had seemed distant, powerful, occasionally terrifying, but above all, safe. Now, whenever Eclipse looked at him a certain way or smiled at him or even if he used a specific tone of voice, Raenef felt... not _un_safe, but definitely not safe.

It wasn't the same feeling he had whenever he thought of Leeche. The crazy little blonde girl had decided to fall in love with him even though she'd arrived at the castle intent on killing him. "Wait ten years for me!" she'd cried as her mortified father dragged her off to the magic portal. She'd promised to return as a beautiful bride worthy of a demon lord. The memory still made Raenef leery every time he thought of it, even though he still had almost six years before Leeche came to make good on her promise, or threat, or whatever it was.

Now _that_ made him feel unsafe, while the emotion Eclipse stirred within him was different. Similar in some ways, a nervous flurry of uncertainty that almost passed as excitement, yet not the same in others. He'd never dreamed of Leeche, for a start. Not a young Leeche or an older, beautiful bride Leeche, whereas he'd dreamed of Eclipse many times—and sometimes, he woke disoriented and too hot, the bed-sheets twisted tight and damp between his thighs and an insistent ache in his body.

Just the thought of those dreams made Raenef want to squirm, but he didn't want to squirm in front of Eclipse. It would be too obvious, and then Eclipse would think there was something wrong with him, and he'd have to invent an ailment that would no doubt land him in even more hot water. Raenef sighed and tried to think of something boring, like the legal code of 186, which to the best of his scattered knowledge had involved an argument about a drainage ditch in a field that straddled the border of two kingdoms.

He leaned down and picked up the topmost book from the pile. Naturally it was the volume he needed to continue his studies, and he flicked a glance at Eclipse, who smiled and nodded. The golden crescent moon hanging from his left ear swung with the movement, the earring flashing in the sunlight.

Raenef skipped forward a few pages. "You don't have to watch me study. It must be just as boring for you to watch me as it is for me to sit here reading about the legal codes."

"I could never be bored watching you, Master Raenef."

Damn, there it was again. That wobbly jelly feeling deep inside, the sensation that he was turning into mush. Raenef coughed and held the book up to his face, hiding his blush behind it. A moment later, he shifted the open book down into his lap. It seemed it was not his face he needed to hide.

"Uh, would you pass me another volume?" Raenef couldn't quite bring himself to look at Eclipse. He held out his hand, hoping it wasn't shaking, and murmured his thanks when Eclipse bent and retrieved another sturdy tome.

"I'm glad to see your desire to cross-reference the legal code of 186 with its later applications in the history of our realm," Eclipse said, his expression both pleased and proud.

Raenef stared at him, blocking out most of the sentence and focusing on the word 'desire'. It rang around his head the way the crusaders' roars reverberated around the castle grounds. _Desire_. Oh, yikes. Was that what he felt for Eclipse? Embarrassed, he scrunched up on the balustrade, adjusted the book in his lap, and turned a few pages of the incredibly boring _A History of Evil Scary Demon Lords, Vol XVI_.

He tried to forget the fact that Eclipse sat opposite him, watching his every move. Raenef attempted to focus on the passages of small print in the history book. Slowly he relaxed, managing to take in first one word per page, then a whole sentence, and then an entire paragraph.

"What are you reading about?" Eclipse asked, making Raenef jump again.

Raenef stared desperately at the page. "The Hangma War."

"Ah." Eclipse turned his head and looked out over the garden, his hair falling forwards again, long black strands drifting across his chest and throat. "If you have any additional questions about the war, you can always ask me. I took part in it."

"You did?" His curiosity piqued, Raenef paid closer attention to the history, almost pressing his nose to the pages as he read. "It says here you were 'an infamous villain, a foe of immeasurable rage'... That doesn't sound like you."

Eclipse gave him a gentle smile. "The book was written by the clerics of Rased."

"Oh. Not likely to be complimentary to demons, then." Raenef went back to reading. He traced over the words with a fingertip, then turned the page. "Oh! And here it says you were a 'demon famous for his cruelty'!" He glanced up, eyes wide. "Eclipse, is it true? You were... cruel?"

Eclipse combed his long, sharp-nailed fingers through his hair, an expression of faint discomfort on his face. "Yes, I was cruel."

"How?" Forgetting the book in his lap, Raenef shifted forward along the balustrade. The book slid sideways and dropped into the rose garden again, but Raenef paid it no heed. He hugged the history book against his chest and kept his gaze on Eclipse. "In what way were you cruel?"

Eclipse made a soft sound of amusement and stood, the demon-silk flowing over his body like black water. He came closer, his eyes dark and fathomless, and then he leaned down and touched Raenef's cheek.

Raenef whimpered, then stopped himself. Demon lords shouldn't whimper. He stared at Eclipse, swaying towards him a little when Eclipse slid a delicate finger beneath Raenef's chin and tilted his head up.

A gurgle escaped him. Demon lords shouldn't gurgle, either, but this was a special circumstance. Eclipse bent down, the silken coils of his hair falling about them, smothering the sunlight. He smiled, and Raenef felt his heart turn over.

"You really want to know the form my cruelty took?"

Hoping he didn't look too eager, Raenef nodded. His grip on the history book loosened and it slid from his arms onto the floor between them. He barely noticed when it landed on his foot. His entire focus was on Eclipse and how close he was, how good he smelled, how hypnotic his eyes were, how soft his lips looked, how very, very close he was...

Raenef closed his eyes, waiting anxiously for the kiss. He felt Eclipse's heat and breath, could almost taste him, and then Eclipse whispered, "I made my enemies study the legal code of 186."

He released Raenef with a smile and stepped away, his black silks swirling around him as he turned and strode across the floor into the castle.

Raenef watched him go and sighed. Then, with an altogether different kind of sigh, he picked up his books and returned to his studies.


End file.
